Electric steaming and pressing iron



April 14, 1953 l.. LEvlNE 2,634,525

ELECTRIC sTEAMING AND PREssINc IRON Filed Feb. l5, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET l I [IIIA Il Y.; LVIII/Ill .VIII/ld le@ e April 14, 1953 l.. I EvlNE 2,534,525

ELECTRIC STEAMING AND PRESSING IRON Filed Feb. l5, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 @W117iy Patented Apr. 14, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTRIC STEAMI'NG AND PRESSING IRON Louis Levine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Application February 15, 1950, Serial No. 144,220

l Claim. 1

My invention. relates to improvements in the manner of constructing and manufacturing pressing or flat-irons and more particularly to improvements in the construction and manuture of electrically heated steam irons.

A prime object of the invention is the provision of an electrically heated steam pressing iron having a valve for the emission of steam from the source of steam supply into the steam chamber of the iron so constructed that the steam so supplied Will not backre owing to the deterioration of the steam-control valve.

A further object of the invention is to provide a Wiring system in the inte-rior part of the iron which is complete in itself and terminates at the exterior coupling posts provided on the iron for the communication of electric current, such internal wiring system Ibeing composed of material which, while eiiicient as an electrical conductor, is impervious to the action of steam and moisture.

A further object is to provide an iron so constructed that condensation of moisture on the exterior of the steam supply line caused by leakage at the joint will not drip onto the exterior of the iron and thence into its interior but will fall outside the iron thus obviating deterioration of its mechanism.

A still further object is to provide means in the interior of the iron to eliminate the objectionable effects of backring of the steam which causes the material being pressed to become spotted by drops of condensation.

I accomplish these and other objects by the provision of novel mechanism as described in my specification and in the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of an iron' con# structed according to my invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section ror" the iron taken along the line 2--2 of Figurel;

Figure 3 is a sectional-view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a plan view, the iron body being removed to show the electric heating element located on the sole-plate;

Figure 5 is a view of the bottom of the iron showing the steam vent apertures in the soleplate; and

Figure 6 is a. section taken along the line 6--6 of Figure 5.

As illustrated in the drawings the steam iron body I which may be made of any suitable metal is provided with a steam chamber 2, at one end of which is located a lug 3 which is drilled and tapped to receive the; end of a special rightangled goose neck or Z-shaped pipe tting 4, its

other extremity being connected by a screwed fitting 5 to a suitable flexible steam supply pipe. In steam pressing irons of the type previously made a hose or other suitable hollow member was attached to the outlet or lug on the exterior of the iron, such hollow member merely leading onc from such lug in the usual manner dictated by its flexibility. No special attention was directed to the form or shape of this steam supply connection. Any looseness of connection between the flexible supply tube and the outlet on the exterior of the iron naturally caused a leakage of steam with resultant condensation on the flexible tube which condensation might easily drip onto the exterior of the iron and thence into the interior causing deterioration of its parts. I have provided a novelbut simple means of overcoming this objectionable feature contained in all previous pressing irons of this class by constructing the steam supply pipe of my iron with the intermediate element of particular shape between the steam outlet on the exterior of the iron andthe flexible steam supply tube, and serving to connect the two together, which I have already designated as the right-angled goose neck or Z- shaped tting 4. It will be noted that the goose neck or Z-shaped fitting fi can be easily and tightly screwed into the body lug 3 thereby making a perfectly steamproof joint, and this joint once being made need not be interfered' with during any usage of the iron, and will therefore always be steam and water-tight. However, if a leak should develop in the flexible steam conductor or its connecting fitting 5, the condensates would of necessity iiow downwardly to the elbow 6 of the goose neck or Z-shaped fitting 4 and drip from' that point outside the zone of the .iron thereby safeguarding it from any possible damage which might be caused by a short-circuting of the electric current.

The steam chamber 2, which is shaped in the form of a horse-shoe, is filled with `bronze or copper wool 'l or other similar non-oxidizing material, its purpose being to break up and volatilize any particles of water which` may have become condensed and carried into the steam chamber during the passage of steam from its supply line, so eliminating the undesirable feature of globules of water passing through the conical valve casting to the steam vent orinces I5 in the sole-plate during operation.

The provision or" the bronze woei or other noi oxidizing material in the interior of the steam chamber also serves another highly useful purpose and remedies a defect to which much attention in the past has been directed but with results which, until my invention, -have not encountered any success. One of the detriments of previous Steam irons has been that when the steam is permitted to enter the steam chamber of the iron through the usual mechanism there is a tendency for the steam to spit or sneeze through the apertures of the base or sole-plate. This sneeze causes a condensation of steam into water, thus harming or marking the fabric being ironed.

In the present invention the steam chamber of the iron is packed with bronze wool or similar material in order to break up the steam particles and interrupt the force of the iiow of the steam upon introduction into the chamber. It will be noted that when the steam is introduced into the iron some of it is in the form of condensation. It is this condensation which causes the 4spit 0r sneeze. The function of the bronze wool is to split themolecules of the condensation giving them time to dry before the release of the steam through the apertures of the base or sole-plate.

The iron is provided with an electric heating element S of standard construction, which is made y electric current was led to the iron by the ordiy nary means of insulated wire' which was introduced into the interior of the iron to suitable connecting posts therein. The presence of steam in the interior of the iron caused the cable covering to rot or otherwise deteriorate thus ycausing a short-circuit. In order to obviate this detriment I provide that electric current shall be led to the iron by the ordinary means of rubber covered conductor wires I8 but I detachably connect them by any suitable means to the terminal posts II secured to the terminal block I2 on the exterior of the iron. In the interior of the iron I lead the electric current by means of a system composed of chromium, nickel-chrome, or other non-corrosive conductor wires protected, not with an insulating material capable of corrosion or deterioration under the action of steamor condensation, but with porcelain insulating beads I5. The internal wiring system of the iron is completed by the provision of a thermostati-c switch I3 of approved construction and which is screwed to the soleplate of the iron, and which may be set at low, medium, or high temperature reading by manipulation of switch knob I4. y

In steam irons as previously constructed there was always present a constant leakage of steam caused by the pressure of the steam within the iron backing up against the valve controlling the supply. The leakage of steam caused the packing surrounding the valve seat to deteriorate, and thus the seating of the valve in its seat became so poor that the iron was practically inoperable until the packing was renewed. In the type of valve formerly provided the steam pressure oper- Y ated to open the valve from its seat so that the stronger the internal steam pressure the more likely thetendency of the valve to leak. In addition, the spring controlling the position of the valve and tending to hold it in place with relation toits seat, being placed in the interior of the iron, tended to deteriorate in the constant presence of steam. I have overcome these disadvantages by providing a valve seating arrangement of novel construction which, in elect, reverses the previous method of construction. As will be seen by reference to Figure of the drawings, the soleplate 9 is provided with a series of apertures I6 each connecting with a horizontal channel I1. As will appear more clearly from Figure 2 of the drawings there is screwed rigidly into the steam chamber 2 the elbow iitting I8 which connects through a tube and its steam-tight fittings to valve casting I9. This valve casting I9 is provided with a ccnicalvalve seat 2U, and the conical Valve 2I being made flexible at joint 22 will always find its true and perfect seating. Valve stem packing 23 squeezed snugly into place by a threaded gland 24, produces a steam-tight joint under operation.

It will be readily seen that normally the conical valve 2I will be resting tightly on the valve seat 20 by reason of the adjustable compression spring 25 acting outwardly on the lever 26, to which is attached the valve stem 28 through clevis 29, and that this pressure between valve and valve seat is actually increased by reason of the steam pressure acting on the head of the conical valve, so increasing the efficiency of the joint between the valve and its seat.

This combined pressure, however, is easily overcome, when it is so desired, by an operator pressing the thumb button 21 with its relatively large leverage.

Upon deiiecting the lever 26 by means of thumb button 21, the valve 2| is backed away from its seating 20 and steam is allowed to pass from steam chamber l, through fitting I 8, with its connecting tube and so through valve casting I9 to orifice 28 into channel I'I and thence through the apertures I6, the quantity of steam passing being completely controlled by the movement of lever but'- ton 21 as desired'by the operator. I

Although I have shown and described only one embodiment of my invention it is Ato be understood that I may make such changes and alterations as I may from time to time deem necessary without departing from the spirit 'of my invention as set forth in the appended claim.

`What I claim as my invention is:

In an electric steaming and pressing iron, a steam chamber having an inlet and an outlet port therein, an outlet passageway'communicating with said outlet port, a valve seat formed by a conical enlargement in diameter of said outlet passageway towards the steam chamber end thereof, a conical valve seated in said valve seat with its inside, or base end towards the steam chamber, a valve stem extending from the narrow or apex end of said conical valve, and through said steam passageway, to the exterior of the ironl means exterior of the iron for positively holding the valve in normally closed position and adjusting means exterior of the iron for displacing the valve from its normal position, a lconnection between said inlet port and a source of steam supply, said connection being disposed on the exterior of the iron, and consisting of'a hollow, substantially right-angled Z-shaped member, the upper and lower arms thereof being substantially parallel to each other and being mounted at an oblique angle to the said plane of the ironing surface of said iron, the intermediate arm of said Z-shaped member being of suiicient length so that the lower angle of said connection is disposed rearwardly of the iron.

LOUIS LEVINE.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

